City may foreclose on oft-cited house

DANBURY - The city may foreclose on a house that was heavily damaged by fire in 2000 and remains an eyesore for neighbors today.

Fire struck Michael and Josephine Placella's home at 30 Nancy Drive on Oct. 20, 2000. The house has been unoccupied since then. The exterior shows damage from fire and smoke, and most of the windows are broken and covered with plywood.
Photographs in the fire marshal's office show the inside of the house is littered with trash, auto parts, tires and household items.
"The owners were issued a warning in April 2003 that the house had blight inside and out, and that no work had been done since the fire. The fire rendered the house unfit for occupancy," said Danbury attorney

Vicki Hutchinson
, who represents the city on this issue. There is no water or electricity to the building.
In an otherwise polished neighborhood, the house is a wreck, which distresses nearby homeowners.
"They're not taking care of it," said

Jean Remond
, who has lived at 3
Campbell Lane
for 30 years. He is a next-door neighbor to the Placellas. "The city's had this problem for four years."
Remond said workers showed up once with replacement storm windows, but after spending 20 minutes prying off a piece of plywood, the workers discovered the windows were the wrong size for the opening. They put the plywood back up and left.
A fire marshal's report said the most likely cause of the blaze was a cigarette discarded near the stairs that connect the basement and the main floor.
Fines of $100 a day started on April 23, 2003, when Blight Enforcement Officer

Larry Miguel
cited the property for blight inside and out. Since then, the property has racked up roughly $37,400 in fines.
Hutchinson filed suit against the Placellas on Nov. 14, 2003, and added their son,
Gregory Placella
after discovering the parents had transferred their house to him four days earlier, on Nov. 10, 2003. The Placellas could not be contacted for this story.
"We're considering foreclosing on the house," said Mayor
Mark Boughton
, who in June 2003 wrote to Nancy Drive neighbors to say the city was working to clean up the problem.
Miguel, the blight enforcement officer, said the city can push a case like this only so far, and then it's up to the courts.
"Our hands get tied. We're at the mercy of the courts," Miguel said. "It's an absolute nightmare. No work's been done."